Ramblings of an Emergency Physician in Texas

Lifelong Learning and Self Assessment

LLSA is the newest certification requirement from my specialty board, ABEM. It’s a yearly test (called Emergency Medicine Continuous Certification, “EMCC”) over a set of articles meant to review topics relevant to emergency medicine. I have to take them in order to be eligible to retest for board certification in about 9 years.

I just finished the first test (released in 2004, and available for 3 years, so it’s not very deadline-driven), and it was a fair test of the material. Although there’s no CME associated with the test itself, I used a review course to prepare, and that did come with CME, so it’s covered.

I wonder, though, as more and more medical specialties go to LLSA, will the states look at passage of the LLSA as either a) a sign of adequate CME, or b) a requirement for continued licensure? I’m all for the former, but against the latter.

LLSA is, by the way, a really horrible acronym. EMCC is a little better.

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Visit Sumer’s Radiology Site for this week’s heaping helping of medical blogs, Grand Rounds. Of particular interest is GruntDoc’s take on lifelong learning and self-assessment, which more and more boards are requiring these days. He also asks an intere…